Ensemble of Convent Avenue Baptist Church Guests In BLACK NATIVITY 12/10

The Inspirational Ensemble of Convent Avenue Baptist Church will make a special guest appearance in Alfred Preisser and Tracy Jack's BLACK NATIVITY NOW on Friday December 10th at 7pm!

BLACK NATIVITY NOW, a holiday gospel pageant featuring an original score and musical direction by Kelvyn Bell, choreography by Tracy Jack and direction by Alfred Preisser, has a limited run from December 3-January 2, 2011, Off-Broadway at the Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46th Street in New York City. Opening night is Thursday, December 9 at 7pm.

BLACK NATIVITY NOW is produced by Jeffrey Glaser, Christopher McElroen, Alfred Preisser, Dana Watkins, Kingsize-USA & 9One Productions Tickets are $47.50 - $67.50, student and group rates are available. Check out www.BlackNativityOffBroadway.com for the performance schedule and to purchase tickets at Ovationtix (https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/756575). For more information call 1-866-811-4111.

BLACK NATIVITY NOW unfolds within an intimate and passionate church presided over by a pastor heavily influenced by Broadway show-biz. Supported by a choir of singers and dancers who perform musical sets infused with gospel, pop, funk, and soul, BLACK NATIVITY NOW is the universal story of mankind's search for salvation and "peace on earth." Appropriate for all ages, and perfect for everyone who loves music, dance and the holiday season.

Set in a present day urban setting that could be the city where you live, BLACK NATIVITY NOW tells the story of the birth of Christ from a fresh and wholly original perspective. The contemporary setting provides a heartfelt reference point for an evening of exuberant music and dance that celebrates humanity's need for hope and grace.

The BLACK NATIVITY NOW cast features two-time Emmy award winner Nikkieli DeMone (Pastor), Jeff Bolding (Chorus Leader, Pastor) Jarvis Manning Jr. (Joseph), Breanna Bartley (Mary) and Naja Jack (Angel). Melanie Charles, Tracy Jack, Vincent Leggett, Brittney Mack, Amma Osei and Stephen Scott Wormley round out the chorus.

BLACK NATIVITY NOW has set design by Evan Collier, costume design by Mia Bienovich, lighting design by Kate Ashton, sound design by Janie Bullard, musical direction and guitar by Kelvyn Bell, David "Red" Harrington on bass, Chris Eddelton on drums, stage management by Katie Hong and press by Lia Chang.

The Inspirational Ensemble was founded in 1982 by former director Juanita David and is presently under the direction of the world-renowned tenor, Professor Gregory H. Hopkins. In addition to his duties as the Ensemble's director, he is also the Ministry of Music for the Convent Avenue Baptist Church as well as a professor of Music at Washington, DC's Howard University. Under his leadership, the Ensemble has grown to thirty-plus members, mainly composed of young adults.

The Ensemble has had the opportunity to share its message of hope in venues around the world. Most notably, the choir has sung for President William Jefferson Clinton, and performed in venues including Carnegie Hall, The Jacob Javits Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The choir also toured South America in 1998, 1999 and 2001 performing in Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil.

Alfred Preisser is an award winning director, writer and producer of theatre. He has led over forty professional productions in New York and regionally. His Fall 2010 production of The Man Who Ate Michael Rockefeller enjoyed a highly successful run at the West End Theatre, and will be opening on Jan. 28 for a limited commercial run at The Arclight Theatre on the Upper West Side. His recent hit Caligula Maximus is being groomed for a commercial run in 2011. From 1999 - 2009, Mr. Preisser was the Founding Artistic Director of the Classical Theatre of Harlem, where he created a wide and distinguished body of work noted for its physicality, originality, and use of music and dance. Award-winning highlights include his 2009 production of ARCHIBISHOP SUPREME TARTUFFE starring André De Shields (four Audelcos); Melvin Van Peebles´ Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death (seven Audelcos) and his 2006 production of King Lear with André De Shields which opened the 75th Anniversary season at The Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C. He has created critically acclaimed original adaptations of Medea, The Trojan Women and Electra. He is a visiting artist and professor of theatre and directing at City College of New York, and is working with Professor Eugene Nesmith, Associate Professor, and Chair in the Department of Theater at CCNY, to create CityArts Theatre (CAT), a professional summer theatre company for the school. Other productions in New York include The Man Who Ate Michael Rockefeller, Macbeth, which toured Germany in 2004, Hamlet, Day of Absence, Dream on Monkey Mountain and Romeo and Juliet. His work has been recognized with the American Theatre Wing Award (Outstanding Artistic Achievement), Drama Desk Award (Artistic Achievement), Edwin Booth Award (Outstanding Contribution to NYC Theater), Lucille Lortel Award (Outstanding Body of Work), two Obie Awards (Sustained Achievement and Excellence in Theatre) and numerous Audelco Awards.

Tracy Jack is a New York based writer, actor and choreographer. Recent acting and choreography credits include, Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (Paris, France), André De Shields' Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory, J Kyle Manzay's claymation television series It's All Elementary, Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner's Best of Both Worlds (ART/Harvard) and Alfred Preisser and Randy Weiner's ARCHBISHOP SUPREME TARTUFFE, just to name a few. Ms. Jack is the founding director of The Triple Threat Performing Arts Academy, an arts intensive program designed for teens and young adults who have a strong desire to work in the industry. She is also currently developing BALAFROHOP, an epic dance performance that tells the story of a young woman caught in the midst of a troubling love triangle. BALAFROHOP is a seamless mixture of contemporary, African and hip hop dance and was successfully debuted at the City Parks Foundation's SummerStage 2010.

Kelvyn Bell is a guitarist, composer and musical director. He has been a contributing innovator to The Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM), Black Artist Group (BAG), m-Base, The Harlem School of the Arts, The St. Louis Jazz Hall of Fame and The Black Rock Coalition (BRC), of which he is a founding member. Mr. Bell has toured internationally and recorded with Arthur
Blythe, Lester Bowie, Steve Coleman & Five Elements, James Carter, Maceo Parker and the JB's, Living Colour, and Joseph Bowie & Defunkt, of which he is a founding member. Mr. Bell has been the resident composer for The Classical Theatre of Harlem since 2002. His theater credits include Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Black Nativity, Trojan Women, Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet, and ARCHBISHOP SUPREME TARTUFFE, for which Mr. Bell won the 2009 Audelco Award for Best Musical Direction.

Nikkieli DeMone, a two-time Emmy Award winning actor, has appeared on stage in Miss Saigon, Rent, Ragtime, Jesus Christ Superstar, Ain't Misbehavin, Once On This Island, Crowns, The Best Of Both Worlds, Memphis Soul and Sideshow, among many others. On the screen, Mr. DeMone has appeared in The Women Of Brewster Place (with Oprah Winfrey), Amen (with Sherman Hemsley and Clifton Davis), Bad Street (Emmy Award: Best Supporting Actor in a Drama), and In The Eyes Of God (Emmy Award: Best Actor in a Documentary Short. Directed by Spike Lee).

In addition to his award-winning career as an actor, Nikkieli DeMone is also an ordained Bishop who attended Union Theological Seminary in NYC, Chicago Theological Seminary and Howard University School of Divinity in Washington D.C. He has been blessed to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world, and has ministered for the likes of Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Bishop Paul Morton, Bishop Charles Blake, Rev. Dr. Floyd Flake, Rev. Dr. Ray Allen Berryhill, Pastor Donnie McClurkin and Bishop CharLes Brown. He is currently working on his first CD entitled Sacred Songs.

Jeff Bolding is the Director of "The Inspirational Voices of Abyssinian" of The Abyssinian Baptist Church, Rev. Dr Calvin Otis Butts, III, Pastor, and currently serves as Assistant Choir Director for Bob Telson's and Lee Breuer's international sensation The Gospel at Colonus, performed at the Apollo Theatre, Harlem, NYC (20th anniversary production, 2004), The Vienna Arts Festival (2006), The Greek Arts Festival, Athens, Greece (June, 2008), and The Edinburgh Arts Festival, Edinburgh Scotland (August, 2010). Mr. Bolding presented for the New York World Science Festival, a collaboration concert, Music and the Brain with internationally renown author, neurologist, and humanitarian Dr. Oliver Sacks (May, 2008), World Science Festival Opening Gala, Lincoln Center, NYC (2009), and has collaborated with Nation to Nation Networking, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting youth and educational programs in the US, Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. He traveled to Ethiopia with 165 pilgrims from Abyssinian Baptist Church (commemorating The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's Millennium celebration and Abyssinian's 200th anniversary, 2007) where he presented a brief musical program on the history of Gospel music before the Ethiopian government. Mr. Bolding received a 2004 AUDELCO Award for his performance in Great Men of Gospel.

BOX OFFICE & PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: www.BlackNativityOffBroadway.com
TICKETS: $47.50 - $67.50 | Student and group rates available
For more information call 1-866-811-4111.

Theatre at St. Clement's is located at 423 West 46th Street between 9th & 10th Avenues in New York. Closest subway: A, C, E to 42nd Street. Exit 44th Street.
Walk north on 8th Avenue to West 46th Street, then west to the theatre

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